Customer Reviews

Dvorak: 3 Great Symphonies

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After having listened to these interpretations of Dvorak's most famous symphonies, I can't go back to my old ones anymore. Granted, I'm a big fan of Dohnanyi's "straightforward approach," but it really does prove to be the right way to go here. I'm particularly taken with the Ninth, which many conductors take ridiculous liberties with to try to give it their seal of individuality. Dohnanyi correctly realizes that the individuality is already inherent the music and blazes straight ahead, and the results are fantastic--much like the classic Szell recording, but with even more fire. Try to find another recording of the Ninth whose outer movements are as drivingly vehement as these--or whose Largo movement is such a smooth, lyrical whisper. In contrast, the Eighth is exuberant all the way through, and the Seventh is as moody and poetic as it needs to be--although again, Dohnanyi distinguishes himself by not allowing the symphony to slip into either melodrama or hysteria, two easy pitfalls. There's a lot of competition out there for all three of these symphonies, so on some level the choice comes down to personal preference--but I guarantee you can't go wrong with these. Buy this set if you're tired of odd tempo and dynamic variations and you just want to hear pure Dvorak, played with meticulous precision and unquenchable energy. That's what you'll get.

I'd wager that there are individual recordings of these works that surpass these performances. Then again, maybe not!

The one performance to beat in this set is the 7th. Dohnanyi and the incredible Clevelanders perform it to perfection, with an almost perfect interpretation.

For the ninth, there is a lot of competition, but what Dohnanyi has that the vast majority of recordings do not is a freshness to the performance. Dohnanyhi's straightforward approach works very well here.

The eighth is perhaps the lesser light of the set, but that hardly says anything, since it, too, is excellent, and ranks as one of my top three favorites (Walter is #1, Macal and Milwaukee and Dohnanyi tie for #2). If you want to check out some incredible playing and to get an adrenalin rush, check out the finale.

The playing, needless to say, is exceptional. Beautiful string sound, although not lush as, for example Boston, Philly (in there peaks under Munch/Leinsdorf or Stokowski/Ormandy, respectively), and the precision of execution, as usual, is outstanding.

The recorded sound, as for so many of the London/Decca recordings in Cleveland, is outstanding.

David Hurwitz has some fairly bogus reviews here, and tends to be biased against certain performers. Still, he's done a good job here at Amazon pointing out good recordings and couplings that I might tend to flip past at a music store or... scroll past here at Amazon. This one is a real gem, and an excellent value.

The Cleveland Orchestra rarely makes a bad recording. Their sound tends to be "lean", in that individual detail is the goal. There is still a certain warmth to the playing on this recording, and a level of folkyness. Here we have Dvorak's best symphony (the 7th), his most creative symphony (the 8th) and his most exciting symphony (the 9th) all played with a consistant level of flair and wonderful interpretation. I think this might actually be my favorite reading of the 7th symphony and the filler on the second disc, the Scherzo capriccioso has always been one of my favorites. I'll be coming back to this set for sure.

I'm extremely glad that I bought this. I wasn't familiar with Dvorak's symphonies other than the popular 9th before I had a chance to listen to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra play his 8th, which just absolutely blew me away in the concert. SLSO did a great job and I hope they'll make a recording of the 8th. Anyway, it was the topnotch excitement the 4th movement of the 8th that made me want to hear more for the very first time. I spent a lot of time reading the reviews of the different recordings available because I wanted to make sure that I'd get the best recording for the fabulous 8th, so I got this. The playing is wonderful, just like what other reviewers said. And I was happy to discover yet another great symphony of Dvorak's--the 7th. I listen to the 8th almost everyday and now I listen to the 7th a lot. In fact, I don't really listen to the 9th, don't know why. I find that the atmosphere the 7th and the 8th (especially) generate is more addictive than that the 9th create. Anyway, Dvorak's 8th is a must-have for people who are into classical music as well as those who are not, because I'm sure that people who are not into classical music would still find this piece a gem.

I have not heard Szell's recordings of the Dvorak symphonies, but I have read in other places that these are better. They are certaintly cheaper than Szell's recordings. The sound is absolutely perfect. The low strings, horns, and tympani sound particularly good. If you are like me, you only know of the 9th symphony of Dvorak. If this is the case, I strongly urge you to purchase this set. Personally, I like the 7th and 8th symphonies better than the 9th.

After listening to other versions of Dvorak's late symphonies by Harnoncourt (9th) and Kubelik (8 & 9), I came to this recording by Dohnanyi. While the Kubelik performance gets rave reviews (which they deserve) and the Harnoncourt gets acceptable reviews, I was not satisfied with either one.

Given my preference for George Szell and Bruno Walter recordings, Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra was a natural choice, given that Dohnanyi's style and technique are similar to those two legendary conductors. Dohnanyi delivers an outstanding performance, one that I feel can meet or exceed the quality of the performances I had previously sampled. Dohnanyi combines the precision of George Szell with the Warmth of Bruno Walter, which again, delivers a great performance.


Fans of George Szell and/or Bruno Walter will enjoy this recording.

I am a huge Dvorak nut (wouldn't that be a good name for a type of actual nut?), and I am very happy with this recording. I have listened to recordings from New York, Berlin, and even other Cleveland recordings. I have listened to Deutsche Grammophone and RCA red label recordings and others. I must say that this is my personal favorite of the bunch.

Though I think other recordings are equal in talent and quality, this seems to me to possess the right balance of somber mood and grandiose epic depending on which movement one is listening to. This version of the 7th is amazing and I have yet to find a Dvorak 7th I enjoy this much. The 8th and 9th are also very good, but I admit there are other amazing versions out there depending on one's preference.

This is an amazingly rich and clean recording. Highly recommended.

I just listened to Kubelik's Deutsche Grammophon complete cycle (an analog to digital conversion) and this set by Dohnanyi/ Cleveland Orchestra. I like Kubelik's set (especially since it has the earlier symphonies), but I really like the sound on the Dohnanyi set.

If you are interested in doing a side by side comparison between a pretty good analog recording and a tremendous DDD recording of the same music, these are wonderful candidates. About the best analogy I can give on the differences would be office copier paper. Our office routinely uses 90 brightness paper and one day we had a ream of 110 brightness slipped in. I did not realize how dull the 90 was until I saw the 110. Kubelik's are the 90 brightness. You WILL hear the 110 brightness in the Cleveland set.

As far as performances go, the Cleveland Orchestra nails these symphonies big time. They are great fun to listen to and to crank the volume up on. It is nice to see that the Cleveland Orchestra has maintained its world class orchestral status in the years since Mr. Szell passed away.

I'd never heard the 7th & 8th symphonies. I think hearing them on this CD will spoil any other interpretation for me. The portions of the new world symphony are done with no less excellence. The scherzo makes for a great finale, leaving me wishing for more. Buy this CD, and you'll play it over and over again.

Having grown up in Cleveland, its orchestra always has a place in my heart. This release represents perhaps the best the orchestra can offer. Outstanding work surpased only when these works were performed live in Severence Hall.